gun legislation that he could support. >> past laws have just stopped the production of new guns. the question remains -- what will this time, after this tragedy, be different? >> the newtown shootings are the subject of the latest edition of inside story from washington. >> the search for answers to the mass killings at sandy hook. is the speculation about the mental health of the gunmen adding to the stigmatization of the mentally ill and doing little to address the root causes? that discussion on inside story,

7:30 p.m. on al-jazeera. >> more good news for the depressed greek economy. standard & poors upgraded its rating. here are the ratings levels given by standard and poor's. aaa means the country should have no problem in meeting its financial commitments. only germany and the netherlands have this rate. before the upgrade, greece's rating had fallen to selective default, which meant it failed to pay on one or more of its obligations. now it was pushed upward to b minus. this shows that greece can meet its financial commitments. i spoke to the fellow at the peterson institute for international economics. >> i think was s&p is catching up to is the improved political goodwill in the rest of the euro

area towards the greek economy. yesterday, greece got 34 billion euros as a quid pro quo for having implemented a long list of reforms and fiscal austerity. s&p as saying, we expect this money to continue to flow from up euro area. nd we expect thre greek government to continue to implement economic reforms in the future. >> does this upgrade change anything for grece in rea ?ce ter >> the greek exit from the euro area is an extremely unlikely event, precisely for the reason s&p outlined -- that the euro

area has politically decided to keep greece in the euro area. this is not something that will make a big difference in the short term, but because it does not reflect a change in the domestic economy in greece. it's equally important, it does not really change anything with respect to the european central bank, because they continue to provide financial support for the greek banking system but they do not rely very much on standard & poors or other credit ratings anymore. so this is more of a headluien confidenceg measure. >> south koreans have begun voting for their next president. his main rival is a new

candidate who held a narrow lead in polls. the president of iraq is in still condition after suffering a stroke. talabani is being kept in intensive care. he is seen as a unifying figure in the fragigigigigigigigigigigf people have fled the palestinian refugee camp near damascus. the area has been under siege for more than three days as rebels battled pro-al-assad groups. they want to gain control over this area as it could lead them closer to central damascus, 8 kilometers away. >> heavy fighting between rebels and palestinians

continued in the camp. >> we are clearing the town of government forces and their palestinian allies. >> they have enjoyed the protection of syrian authorities for 14 years. but this is testing their loyalty. even members of a group that has spent an ally of al-assad are angry at the regime. the palestinian front for liberation, the general has been doing most of the fighting. its leaders are furious about the air raid by government forces on sunday. >> we condemn strongly this air attack against the refugee camps which killed more than 25 people. that does not mean we are against syria.

we asked the government in syria, we asked the presidents al-assad in syria to explain this attack. >> hundreds fled their homes. some have found refuge in areas of the camp unaffected by the fighting but many others have left the town altogether. the world health organization said the main hospital has up to 100 people every day that have been injured and it is running short of medicine and other supplies. the most common injuries are gunshot wounds and injuries from -- the battle for the syrian capital has entered its second month. they maintained a firm grip on their power base in the center of the city. the rebels were able to advance. the fighting is not likely to

end anytime soon. >> a gunman in pakistan have killed six women who were working to vaccinate children against polio. >> their job was to help stop the spread of a devastating disease, and they were killed for doing it. on tuesday, gunmen shot to death six pakistani women who were working on a government- backed polio vaccination campaign. five of the women were killed in the largest city. >> they shot her from behind. there are no threats, nothing. she is my daughter. >> police say the killings were well coordinated and occurred simultaneously in three areas of the city. the sixth woman, believed to be 17, was shot to death in egypt. on monday-- in peshawar.

all of the dead were working on a three day anti-polio campaign. no group claimed responsibility, but investigators believe the taliban carried out the attack. has been vocal against campaign -- vaccinations. >> they think the vaccine was used for identifying -- how this was used in case of locating osama bin laden. i think after that, this kind -- they became more targets of the taliban >> the government suspended at the vaccination campaign in karachi. this is not the first time they have targeted vaccination programs. in july, while local volunteer were shot and two volunteers were wounded. the government, along with un

agencies, is on a campaign to immunize 34 million children under the age of 35. with health workers being attacked, eradicating the disease by the end of the year is looking very unlikely. certain communities and pakistan have long been suspicious of vaccination campaigns, particularly those run by foreign agencies over fears the vaccine may cause harm. with the taliban concerned these campaigns are a front for intelligence-gathering, many health experts fear not only more violence against their workers but a sharp increase in the number of young people contracting preventable diseases. >> the united states has criticized plans by israel to build more settlements in occupied east jerusalem. on tuesday, benjamin netanyahu brushed aside criticism saying it was israel's right to build

houses for its people. several european countries have condemned it. the state department says it is counterproductive and has called on israel and palestine to restart peace talks. >> we are deeply disappointed that israel insists on continuing its pattern of action. these repeated announcements and plans of new construction have run counter to the cause of peace. israel's leaders continually say they support the path towards a two-state solution, yet these actions only put that goal further at risk. >> photo sharing serve instagram has tried to reassure users that it will not sell their photos. mobile phone photographers have incorrectly interpreted a change in its policy. they began life as an iphone app. facebook bought the site for $1 billion in april.

we have a technology expert with the competitive enterprise institute. >> i think they are going to make money by selling these pictures. whether it will be in the form of something like a photo or simply using one person's pictures to advertise their friends -- to their friends. personalization is increased when you are trying to figure out what products you want to buy. this is a road that facebook will go down. it has to make money off it somehow. instagram might not use the photographs to the fullest extent of what the policy change allows. it is not likely that when you post a picture on instagram, you will see it ending up on billboards are being sold. i think facebook is going to tread carefully, because it realizes that britain, a high ce

has ruled that a 7-year-old boy with a brain tumor should have more surgery, against the wishes of his mother. sally roberts told the court she wanted further medical advice before proceeding. >> sally roberts's son will have surgery not because she wants it but because the british court demands it. her son has cancer. his doctors say he needs urgent surgery and of course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. his mother has objected to radiotherapy and side effects. her defiance in the face of medical opinion has become a big story. >> why are you so adamant that he is not to have it? >> i have been asking the entire time, please show me evidence that he does need this treatment. the only thing they can come up with is a study from the 1940's. >> in court she withheld their

consent to surgery. the judge agreed with his doctors and ordered the surgery to go ahead anyway. opposition to her son receiving radiotherapy was criticized, but it did evoke sympathy in certain quarters. her latest opposition for plans for the second crucial third trait -- surgery threatens to alienate many. nevertheless, the case has raised questions about the rights of parents and the face of statistical evidence about the best way to treat their children. >> the difficulty there is, we are dealing with statistics. we're not dealing with this individual child. so it would be -- what sometimes happen is that for one reason or another, a child does not get the treatment and child survives. then people say, look. i was right. >> so far in this case, the evidence supporting neon's doctors has far outweighed the

concerns of his mother. >> in only its second ever verdict, the international criminal court has acquitted a congolese warlord. he was accused of directing militias to kill and rape during fighting in the democratic republic of congo in 2003. judges ruled there was not enough evidence to link him to the attacks. chad has sent troops into central african republic to help the government put down a rebellion. the rebels and that governments signed a peace deal five years ago, but some breakaway groups are advancing on the capital. the former south african president nelson mandela is to remain in hospital under observation. the 94-year-old was treated for a long infection two weeks ago. he underwent surgery to remove a gallstone.

the current south african president, jacob zuma, has won a second term. his new deputy is the former unionist turned business tycoon. >> president jacob zuma's win was expected. so was the political comeback of the business tycoon. the ruling anc has been plagued by infighting. >> by electing jacob zuma, this was not in the form of -- this was rescuing the anc. >> he left politics in the 1990's to pursue a career in business. his appointment as the deputy president of the ruling party gives him role of the.

>> the business committee is hoping that he will put in business friendly policies that could stabilize the economy. >> his image was painted in august when police shot and killed 34 striking miners. he is a shareholder at the mine where the shooting took place. the incident showed the appalling conditions in which mineworkers' live and work. he was one of the leaders of the national union of mineworkers. >> he has been seen as per se was the -- bourgeoisie on the grou. nd. his ability to overcome that, speaking the language, but the language she has to speak is the delivery language, his ability to deliver, if he moves into the government, that will make him gain support in the party as well as in the country.

>> if the anc wins the 2014 general election, he could become the deputy president of the country. they are waiting to see whether the new leadership plans to take -- where the new leadership plans to take the country. >> mexico's new national security adviser says the government's drug policy is failing. addressing a security meeting, he said capturing cartel leaders breaks up gangs which makes the more violent. talks are being held to try to help colombia -- to halt colombia's civil war. our reporter traveled to a town where an entire community was forced from their land. >> this is what is left of the town, a once thriving farming

town near the caribbean coast. right-wing paramilitary fighters and they did in 2000, accusing the residents of collaborating with leftist rebels. 12 people were killed. the village was displaced. >> that is where i was raised. is family works this land for generations. >> the land is very fertile. some say if you so money, money will grow. the truth is this is very productive land. conr, plantains, yuca. -- conr. everybody has access to the land. >> he is a landless farmers today living in a makeshift settlement. most food production has been replaced with palm plantations controlled by rich owners. an equal distribution of land has been a major factor in the conflict since the beginning. in the last 20 years, an area bigger than the size of

switzerland has been stolen or banded. today, only 58 -- over 50% of the land is controlled by 1% of the population. under a new law, the government is promising to return some of the land to the farmers, even if many never held formal ownership. >> i think it is a very important first step because it constitutes recognition on the part of the government that land constitution is a problem and that many peasants rights have been violated. throughout this long conflict. what colombia needs is a systematic land reform. >> a dozen families were awarded titles. but recovering the land is just the first challenge. >> i am glad for the title. means i can work the land again. maybe even get along. but we still need protection. many of us -- we need roads, electricity, water. >> land reform is the first

point of the peace talks between the government and the rebels group farc. each side differs on the model but both agree this is the issue that needs to be resolved before the country can advance. >> now to india where the humble banana is being seen by some as the answer to the food shortages caused by climate change. we report from an area where some farmers have transferred their rice and wheat crops to beeananaas. >> it's cheap, popular, and tertius. and nowhere is it more popular than in india where the countries farmers grow several varieties. bananas thrive in the tropical climate. 27 million tons are produced each year. surprisingly, less than 1% is exported. indians cannot get enough

bananas. >> i love bananas. i have one every day. >> we do not just eat them. we use them in religious ceremonies. >> environmental pressures could end the monopoly on banana production. farmers to switch to bananas from crops like potatoes. that is exactly what the united nations report suggested happened. the committee on world food security looked at how climate change would affect 22 of the world's most important crops. most affected would be high corn and wheat, but the potato would fare badly if temperatures rose. it is suited to cooler conditions. so the experts suggest that rising temperatures would make bananas a more suitable staple for countries like south asia. scientists at this university have been helping to spearhead a national effort to promote production, especially in parts of the country where drought and

flooding that it difficult for farmers to produce rice or wheat. several varieties are produced from tissue cultures. saplings are nurtured and their production rates are monitored. this provides scientists and farmers with knowledge about how much the banana tree can produce with minimal and maximum amounts of water. >> we want to be a kind of center where we can serve all the species and we are the source for the world to see the native species that have grown on a larger area. we want to be spearheading that kind of research in this lab. >> the potential for economic prosperity is evident. four years ago, he changed his crops from lentils and rice to bananas. >> it was difficult to break even financially, but now i have seen increasing the productivity. 30% to 40% compared with what i

produce before. panetta is economically better because i make more money. >> the groundwork has been laid. production satisfies the indian market. in the future, is there is overproduction, the government has to plant a banana-export